


Waddle

by Jathis



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Ducks, Fluff, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 12:28:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20064028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jathis/pseuds/Jathis
Summary: The ducks at the park have always been there





	Waddle

There had been a storm during the night. It had been the kind of storm where the trees seriously considered that being a tree wasn’t as lovely as they had thought. It had also brought back memories about another Rain and certain beings burrowed deep under their covers, tightening their scaled body into a tight ball to drown out the sound. 

The next day the world was still around and not under water and so things were fine. The trees got over their stress and Crowley turned back into his human form to go out to the park. If asked, he would deny ever being upset that night and would most likely hiss through his lies.

He was waiting for the light to turn red so he could properly jaywalk to the park when he heard the peep. Crowley slowly blinked, frowning to himself. The peeping started to pick up and the demon started to look, muttering about the origins of odd noises and their uses for scaring jittery people. 

It was a duckling. The bird was hidden underneath a mailbox, shivering as it peeped to itself. It’s feathers were dirty and ruffled. It was obvious the duckling had been out in the storm and was using the mailbox for shelter.

He clucked his tongue, “you shouldn’t be out here,” he murmured. He reached out and grunted when the bird shied away from his hand. “Oh come on! Come here, dummy!” Crowley grunted as he laid down onto his stomach, reaching further in to catch the bird. The duckling continued to stay just out of reach, peeping all the while.

The demon grunted, gritting his teeth as he restrained the urge to turn into a snake to better catch the duckling. If he did that it would probably die from fright so he was stuck doing it the old fashioned way. He considered a moment and then closed his hand into a fist. He waited until the duckling was looking before opening his hand, revealing the small grapes he had summoned. Crowley smiled as the duckling flapped its wings in excitement and waddled right onto the palm of his hand and started to eat. Slowly he pulled his hand back, carrying the bird with him.

“Cheeky little thing. What are you doing out of the park?” he asked. He stood up, his clothes miraculously clean and dry despite lying on the wet sidewalk. He cupped both of his hands to better support the bird and looked it over for any injuries. He cleaned its feathers and fixed them, putting them back to how they should be. “Your family is probably worried sick about you,” he said.

The duckling yawned, sitting down comfortably on his hands, little tail wagging rapidly before settling. He just sighed, clicking his teeth as he went to the crosswalk this time. “Gonna make me follow the rules this morning, aren’t you?” he asked. He waited for the green light and then crossed into the park, heading for the pond.

He went to the pond, carefully stepping over the fence. At least that was a little bit of breaking the rules. He could feel better about that. The duckling in his hands perked up as the sound of other ducks got closer and it stood up and turned around to look. “Now let’s find your family…” Crowley murmured.

The demon walked along the edge of the pond, holding out the duckling as if presenting it like a gift. “Oy! Whose baby is this?! Come get your baby!” he announced. He raised an eyebrow as a duck came waddling towards him, followed by several ducklings. “You the mother then?” he asked. The duck quacked rapidly, flapping its wings as if in indignation. He rolled his eyes, setting the duckling down on the grass. “You’re the one who lost your baby, not me!”

The duckling shook itself out and blinked when it saw its family. The bird started to waddle towards them and then paused, looking back over at Crowley. The duckling peeped and ran back to stand on his shoe and soon the other ducklings followed suit, flapping their wings and peeping up at the demon. 

Crowley huffed and checked his watch. “Fine! I’ll stay for a bit!” he finally conceded. This seemed to please the ducklings and they ran happily peeping towards the water. The demon and the duck shared a look and he sighed as he followed the duck to the water. He stayed at the edge of the pond, hands in his pockets as he watched the reunited family playing in the water. 

He didn’t realize how much time had actually passed until he felt someone touching his arm. “Hm?”

“You don’t usually get this close to them,” Aziraphale said. He raised an eyebrow, “you’re not planning to do some mischief to them are you?”

“Naw not today, angel. Not really in the mood. The ducklings are practicing sticking their heads under the water and it’s mean to ruin it for them.”

The angel held up a small bakery box, smiling at him. “I brought some treats for lunch,” he said.

Crowley smiled and nodded, following his angel back to their usual bench.


End file.
